Of Datuks and Venus

Apart from the chaos, the downfall of the big names in the banking institution, the cerekarama of the Malaysian political issues, two issues are close and dear to the hearts of Malaysians : one on awarding a Datukship to a Bollywood superstar – well, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Mr Khan – but like most Malaysians, I just don’t get the logic lah.

Datuk Shah Rukh Khan

And the second issue : changing the name from Jalan Alor to Jalan Kejora…err..what is Kejora..? Oh..Venus..what’s Venus got to do with us ? oohhh..to be in-line with Bukit Bintang ( Star Hill) hor.. why not name the streets with the names of the films stars too- more ‘glamour’ worr…, Jalan Al Pacino..oh..cannot..not Malaysian Identity..Jalan Mawi, can ah…? Oh…I know a true Malaysian identity..what do you think of Jalan Datuk Shah Rukh Khan..he did his bit in promoting our beloved country …and apart from that – naming a road after him will bring millions of bollywood fans to our shores..it will increase the number of tourist five fold as our guest will be queueing up at the imigration to have their pictures taken with the road sign.

There was a feature in Star Metro 22/10/08 about the DBKL Road Naming Committee rules and guidelines, I extracted part of it :

-English names must be changed to Bahasa Malaysia

-Names must reflect the Malaysian Identity

-Road names must follow a theme ( for example, if the neighborhood or zone is using fruits as their theme, then all roads must follow the names of Malaysian fruits)

– to use names of famous people

-Naming roads in accordance with the name of the housing estate. For eg in Sri Hartamas, the road names are Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Jalan Sri Hartamas 2. etc

-Names used should be a source of information or educational. For example using the names of Malaysian fruits and spices

I understand ( but may not accept) the reasons for changing the names of the roads, main thing seemed to be – to ‘reflect the Malaysian identity’, but does that mean that ‘wiping’ away part of our history / heritage by re-naming a road of a former English resident to a Malaysian vegetable – will make us more Malaysian ?